Happy New Year!

(A day late!) But I'm not going to worry about it, because one of my goals for this year is to strive to "go with the flow" a little more, enjoy what is a little more and worry about everything a little less.

I set several goals for myself this year, and am going to post a few challenges along the way to encourage myself along with my readers.

All of them are aimed at helping to feel more happy, and enjoy life in the moment. I don't want to someday look back and think, 'wow, I really had it good back then- why didn't I appreciate it at the time?'

The First Challenge this year: To keep a "Gratitude Journal" for the month of January.
While flipping thru 2 different magazines recently (Good Housekeeping and LHJ) I stumbled onto similar stories done about some tests conducted in 2007. Basically the tests said that people who wrote down something they were grateful for each day, felt happier with their lives
than those who didn't keep any sort of written record. They all came from similar backgrounds and were in similar social and economic circumstances, yet the ones who were tangibly reminded daily of something they were grateful for felt more fulfilled and satisfied with their life.

I found this profoundly interesting and thought it was a great way to improve my happiness quotient without a major life change! I've also read from many different sources that you must do something regularly for 21 days to become a habit. So I'm willing to give it a grand try. I've been working on an Art Journal of prepared backgrounds, so I can just grab it and journal away. With the backgrounds already prepared, it takes away that "blank-page" block, and puts the emphasis on the thought behind the words. I don't intend to spend long hours writing, as I'm more of a visual kind of gal, but even if I write a sentence or two, I intend to be faithful to keeping up with this challenge. (And if some interesting art happens along the way-more the better!!)

So I challenge you to play along with me, and see if we truly can be the navigators of our attitudes!